The iambic trimeter derives its name from its essential shape, which is three metrical units (hence trimeter) which are each basically iambic in form. The iambic metron has the following shape (where the x is an anceps, the - is a longum, and the u is a brevis):
Hence, reversing the current running though a wire will have the affect of reversing the direction of the magnetic force at a point some distance away from the wire. The affect that this has on the overall magnetic field depends on the shape of the wire.
The convention has stuck and is still used today. The direction of an electric current is by convention the direction in which a positive charge would move. Thus, the current in the external circuit is directed away from the positive terminal and toward the negative terminal of the battery. Electrons would actually move through the wires in the opposite direction.